Optimistic Facebook 'in talks' with Apple about Facebook Home for iPhone

Good luck with that, Zuck

A Facebook exec has confirmed that the social network is 'talking' to Apple about bringing Facebook Home to it's famously locked-down iOS.

That doesn't mean that the part-OS part-overzealous-app will make it to your iPhone or iPad any time soon though, with Adam Mosseri, Facebook's director of product, describing the talks as 'ongoing'.

"We've shown them what we've built and we're just in an ongoing conversation," he told the Bloomberg.

Facebook Studio Apartment With Shared Bathroom

Even if the talks prove fruitful, Mosseri isn't sure that what makes it to iPhone will look much like the Facebook Home the company launched last week - it could be more like Facebook Bedsit.

"It may or may not be Home. We could also just bring some of the design values to the iOS app. That might be how it ends up. Or we could build just the lock screen. Maybe then it's not called Home, it's called something else."

Glad we cleared that up.

His comments echo those of COO Sheryl Sandberg who told reporters, "We are going to continue to develop for both [Android and Apple]."

"It is true that Android is enabling us to provide a more immersive Facebook experience than we can on other operating systems. Home is based on the openness of Android. It allows users to customise in ways that Apple does not."

Given that Facebook Home for Android basically skims all the useful user data that can be used to target and sell advertising and Apple's traditional unwillingness to share any of the data or revenue love with other companies (take a bow, 30% app store cut), we can't see an all-encompassing Facebook skin making it to iOS.

Still, a 'lite' version could well be on the cards, particularly since Chat Heads have already begun infiltrating the iOS apps.

Tags

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

News Editor (UK)

It's a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she's constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. And having been immersed in the world of tech and tech rumours for more than six years, she can spot a photoshopped iPhone 8 image from 20 paces.